115 – Raid (3)
After defeating the group of followers, Bell and his party scrambled to find other members.
It was so spacious inside, and there were so many small and big passages here and there that you could get lost even though there was a map, so it wasn’t easy to find it even if you followed the sound.
In the midst of this, if there is at least one comforting thing.
That’s because the gatekeepers of the underground ruins, the golems and guardian spirits, are blocking their followers.
Originally, they were supposed to be confronting the cadets who visited here to take the test, but this time, they would recognize the most captured followers as enemies and attack them.
Thanks to this, Bell and his party were able to head to the place where the roar had been heard without fighting a major battle.
“Was it this way?”
The problem is that it became quite difficult to track down from a certain point due to the sound that stopped in the middle.
Lorne nodded her head at Bell’s self-talk as he pounded his fist on a pile of rocks blocking the road and looked around.
“It will be right in the direction. But nothing is detected.”
At least it seems that even Lone, who can be relied on in the current situation, has not achieved much.
At this, Bell pounded the pile of stones with his fist with an expression that he could guess.
“That means it’s either out of detection range or it’s been tweaked separately.”
“I think so. If it’s the former, it’s fortunate, but if it’s the latter….”
While expressing his positivity, Lone could not hide his uneasy eyes.
Simply follow the direction the sound came from if there is some distance.
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However, the story is different if he did some kind of trick that does not affect the magic detection.
If they use their brains to hide the main action force and use the rest of the group to scatter even bait, it would be the worst situation.
Especially in cases where we have to rely solely on detecting magical powers, as in the current situation, it may cause even greater confusion than expected.
It is literally like being blind.
Soon after hearing her explanation, Bell’s eyes changed sharply.
‘Time is a problem.’
At least, if I had time to spare, I would be able to run by relying on Lorne’s magic detection, regardless of whether time dragged on or not.
However, this side already has a significant advantage.
That is, they have no way of knowing the location of their target, the source of creation.
In other words, it means that the strategy of stepping ahead and hitting the back of the head, as in the case of the Wizard’s Forest or the Exchange Meeting, is impossible.
Therefore, time is bound to be tighter.
If you make a mistake, you might taste defeat without even seeing the hem of the robes of those who lazily escape with their hands on the source of creation.
It was around the time Bell was wrapping her head around her head, saying that she had to come up with something to say, because she couldn’t search all of these vast underground cavities.
– Beep, beep….
“… What?”
Bell raised her ears at the sound of a baby animal coming from somewhere in pain.
At first, I thought I heard it wrong, but it’s not an auditory hallucination when I see the sound lingering in my ears more and more clearly.
On the other hand, the rest of the people just showed a curious reaction as if they hadn’t heard the sound.
“Bell, what’s wrong?”
“Be quiet for a moment. What can’t you hear?
She asked, not even Lorne, who was standing next to him, could hear her, but her bell silenced her, putting her finger to her lips.
Aden and Elisha, who were watching this, also followed Bell, holding their breath and keeping her footsteps down as much as possible.
The sight of four people clinging to the wall as if they were playing trains all of a sudden was a very strange sight for an urgent situation.
– Kiying. Whimper….
In the end, as if to prove that the eccentricity was not in vain, the sound was heard more clearly this time.
Bell, convinced that she was on the other side of the wall she was clinging to, asked Elisha, who was standing behind her, to ask.
Lone has used her magical energy quite a bit while coming here, so she needs to preserve her strength a bit more.
“It comes from this side? Elisha, break down the wall. As carefully as possible.”
“Yes, I will try.”
Elisha couldn’t hear anything in her ears, but she decided to knock down the wall so that the other person wouldn’t get hurt.
That’s it.
When she had finished her chant, she put her hand on the wall, and the spurt of her ice pierced the wall very slowly.
Eventually, I must have reached the end of the wall, and I didn’t feel anything in my way anymore.
As Elisha poured more of her mana into it, the ice spread like a spider’s web in all directions and swallowed the wall.
Shredding.
At the same time, that solid wall shattered like an ice statue struck with a hammer in an instant, turning into shards of ice and rolling on the floor.
Bell expressed his gratitude for the appropriate solution that fully reflected the requirements and stepped beyond it.
“Ki-ing. Keeing….”
“Dude, you….”
There was a wolf the size of a small dog.
Actually, it’s a good wolf, but Aden and Lone, who don’t know the identity, thought it was just a puppy.
On the other hand, Bell and Elisha’s eyes widened to the size of a lantern when they realized what it was.
That would be true too, because he was a familiar summoned by Marie.
“Bell, this kid is…. Baekrang, right?”
“I think so.”
Elisha asked a question to confirm that she hadn’t seen it wrong, and upon hearing her Bell’s answer, she approached Baekrang and held the weakly whimpering guy in her arms.
His whole body is full of scars, and seeing that his body is becoming translucent, he seems to be on the verge of returning to the spirit realm because his strength has run out.
In fact, the original Familiar naturally returns to the spirit realm when she is injured this much.
However, the fact that he didn’t do that means Baekrang must have thought that he had something to do by remaining here on his own volition.
Even though he lost all his strength from his owner and became a small wolf cub that lost even his original majesty.
“… Elisha, I’m sorry, but charge him as much mana as possible so that he doesn’t return to the spirit realm. Just hold on until he goes.”
“I will. Since we met often and became close, this child will not reject my magical power.
Looking down at her injured guide with pity, Elisha blew her magical energy into Baekrang’s body as much as she could.
Originally, a familiar is a creature with a very high nose, so it does not accept anything other than the master’s magical power, but it seems that it accepts it without rejecting it, perhaps because it knows that the other person is the owner’s close friend.
Or, she might have bent her pride at the thought that she could save her master only if she endured without returning to the spirit realm.
Elisha stroked Baekrang’s sharp hair, thinking that either way she was a very admirable child.
As soon as the color returned to her transparent body, a smile of relief appeared on the lips of the other two girls who were watching.
* * * *
She was out of breath, but Bell and the others ran and ran as if they had no intention of slowing down at all.
Moving was easy thanks to Baekrang, who had regained his magical powers, running in the lead and directly guiding us.
However, Bell still couldn’t get away from the strange feeling she felt earlier, and she kept staring at the dim space beyond her aisle.
‘What is it? This feeling.’
Even Bell could tell that the more White Rang’s tail waggled, the closer she was to Marie.
However, as the strange sensation pressing down on her body grew stronger the more she did, her expression frowned as well.
On the other hand, the same party seems to not feel anything strange, but they are just running panting as if they are out of breath.
“If you go a little further, a wide cavity appears. Maybe Marie was there too.”
Elisha, who checked the structure of the underground ruins even while running, spoke with a confident voice.
Her Marie’s location is also a location, but that wasn’t the most important thing for Belle, so he asked her breathlessly with Lorne on his back.
“How much is left?”
“It’s right in front of you.”
“It’s nice to hear that.”
Only the person himself knows whether he meant that he didn’t have to carry Lorne anymore, or that he could rescue Marie quickly.
“Heo Eok, Heo Eok….”
The party, who ran up their strength and stamina, arrived at the wide cavity Elisha explained before they knew it.
Several light fields spread out around the space greeted by a towering rock, creating a strange scene that is neither dark nor bright.
There was a small passageway in front of it, and it was assumed that Marie was there.
“It’s too quiet.”
“Sure.”
I was in the middle of moving my steps with the thought of putting Lorne down for a while and heading in together.
Bell showed sympathy for Aden’s subconscious sentiment.
As she said, it is strangely quiet to say that Mari is over here.
Besides, it would be easier to deal with uninvited visitors in advance if you camped out and waited in such a large space.
It bothers me that I dare to leave such a geographically advantageous place alone.
Contemplating whether it was a futile rain or an enemy trap, Bell inadvertently raised her head and moved her gaze over the rock in the middle.
It was a rock with a bizarre appearance that towered high enough to touch the ceiling of this vast underground cavity, so you could barely see it if you lifted your head all the way.
Eventually, his gaze landed on a high place that was difficult to reach with the soft light of the light field.
The moment Bell, who felt that something whitish was shining there, focused her eyes a little more to observe the presence.
“…… !?”
Bell’s pupils dilated in an unprecedented manner at the figure that seemed excessive at first glance.
That’s also true, because there was a familiar face that I had never met in person, but had seen in pictures.
That, too, the worst person I never wanted to meet in the current situation.
“I expected the professors from the academy to come…. Some gore came.”
Even after noticing the presence of an uninvited guest, it seemed that there was no reason to pull out the main sword.
The man standing on the rock muttered coldly as he looked down at Bell and his party.
Bell finally realized the identity of the sense of difference he had felt a little while ago and clenched his fists until they were crushed.
As he lamented inwardly that the reality was heading toward the worst development he could think of.